“It is a statement of the obvious that the option of a second referendum must be on the table and it is on the table,” she told reporters.

“I think an independence referendum is now highly likely,” she added.

Read: Britain votes to leave EU, unleashing global turmoil

Scotland, which held its previous independence referendum in 2014, voted by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent to remain in the EU in Thursday’s referendum, putting it at odds with Britain as a whole, which voted 52-48 percent in favor of Leave.

Sturgeon added: “I want to make it absolutely clear today that I intend to take all possible steps and explore all options to give effect to how people in Scotland voted, in other words to secure our continuing place in the EU and in the single market.”